I'll try not to make this long winded so I'll quickly explain the good and the bad.
GOOD
-The translation is BEAUTIFUL. Almost every line of dialog is different from the original yet it's been rewritten to actually make sense. In fact, the new translation actually expands on characters more than it did with the original; Argath (once Algus) speaks with a lisp and he's more of an arrogant 2nd class priss moreso than he was in the first game which made him come off as a scheming noble. Delita seems more cold and distant yet at the same time he's on the border of near insanity as he often talks to himself. They made Gaffgarion more of an A-hole than he originally was and Agrias is a lot less uptight. Miluda's actual goal is represented more clear and Wiegraf's hatred over the nobles is filled with a lot more vice.
Overall, the game's story has been heightened three fold. There are no good guys in this game; everyone is just looking out for themselves amidst a dirty war which is a breath of fresh air from SAVING TEH WOLRD!1 Delita is still one of my favorite Final Fantasy villains and all the side characters that Tactics threw at you are much more enjoyable and memorable including Rafa and Malak who don't SUCK so much this time around.
-The game is harder. They dropped the EASY MODE crap from the english release and made all the job classes have their original Japanese jp score. There are new classes like the Death Knight (Gaffgarion is classified as Fell Knight to differentiate himself from everyone else), Onion Knight (yay FF3j reference) and there are also a small handful of new crossover characters like Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 (which isn't even out yet) and Balthier from Final Fantasy 12. Cloud is still here...
-The new job qualifications (which are actually the old Japanese quals) are much more strict, but given the difficulty leveling up or taking side jobs is much more prevelant than it once was. Velius is still ridiculously difficult.
-There are new CG cinemas... but they're not all flash like the standard Square cinematics. Instead, they use a cel-shaded hand painted look that makes the scenes look like they're animated renaissance paintings. It's a really neat effect and there are quite a lot of cinemas for major story points so it's not like a cheap gimmick. There is voice acting in the cinemas, and Square picked mighty fine voice actors to fit the role. The textures are now hi-res and anti-aliased. All other graphics are the same.
-The music has been remixed with an actual orchestra. You can hear instruments and such now which is a welcome addition.
-There are smaller yet welcome changes such as the SLOW AS HECK text during the prologue and chapter 1 has been fixed to run at normal speed.
THE BAD
-The game has some slowdown... which I don't understand. It's nowhere near as bad as the Japanese version but it's baffling. There's very little loading times in the game (about 1-2 seconds between scenes), the game runs FASTER than the ps1 version, but whenever you use a special skill that causes the screen to darken (like Gaffgarion's dark sword or Agrias' Judgement Sword) the game stutters for about 1-2 seconds. It's nothing game breaking and I don't notice it as much, but it is annoying and strange when the rest of the game is flawless.
-The sound effects were emulated... poorly. Rather than remix the sound effects like they did the music, Square simply ported them over. While they aren't terrible, some sound effects like the dying "scream" and item "confirmation" sound louder and more distorted than they should be.
My Opinion
If you missed Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1, then get this. If you loved Final Fantasy 12, then get this. If you want one of Square's most professional, dark, and realistic stories then by all means get this. FFT had one of my favorite video game tales ever and now that it's been remade, I had more fun playing through it a second time then I did the first. The odd slowdown and distorted sound effects are minor annoyances in an otherwise fantastic package.
And I hear Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced 2 more than makes up for FFTA's embarassment.
GOOD
-The translation is BEAUTIFUL. Almost every line of dialog is different from the original yet it's been rewritten to actually make sense. In fact, the new translation actually expands on characters more than it did with the original; Argath (once Algus) speaks with a lisp and he's more of an arrogant 2nd class priss moreso than he was in the first game which made him come off as a scheming noble. Delita seems more cold and distant yet at the same time he's on the border of near insanity as he often talks to himself. They made Gaffgarion more of an A-hole than he originally was and Agrias is a lot less uptight. Miluda's actual goal is represented more clear and Wiegraf's hatred over the nobles is filled with a lot more vice.
Overall, the game's story has been heightened three fold. There are no good guys in this game; everyone is just looking out for themselves amidst a dirty war which is a breath of fresh air from SAVING TEH WOLRD!1 Delita is still one of my favorite Final Fantasy villains and all the side characters that Tactics threw at you are much more enjoyable and memorable including Rafa and Malak who don't SUCK so much this time around.
-The game is harder. They dropped the EASY MODE crap from the english release and made all the job classes have their original Japanese jp score. There are new classes like the Death Knight (Gaffgarion is classified as Fell Knight to differentiate himself from everyone else), Onion Knight (yay FF3j reference) and there are also a small handful of new crossover characters like Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 (which isn't even out yet) and Balthier from Final Fantasy 12. Cloud is still here...
-The new job qualifications (which are actually the old Japanese quals) are much more strict, but given the difficulty leveling up or taking side jobs is much more prevelant than it once was. Velius is still ridiculously difficult.
-There are new CG cinemas... but they're not all flash like the standard Square cinematics. Instead, they use a cel-shaded hand painted look that makes the scenes look like they're animated renaissance paintings. It's a really neat effect and there are quite a lot of cinemas for major story points so it's not like a cheap gimmick. There is voice acting in the cinemas, and Square picked mighty fine voice actors to fit the role. The textures are now hi-res and anti-aliased. All other graphics are the same.
-The music has been remixed with an actual orchestra. You can hear instruments and such now which is a welcome addition.
-There are smaller yet welcome changes such as the SLOW AS HECK text during the prologue and chapter 1 has been fixed to run at normal speed.
THE BAD
-The game has some slowdown... which I don't understand. It's nowhere near as bad as the Japanese version but it's baffling. There's very little loading times in the game (about 1-2 seconds between scenes), the game runs FASTER than the ps1 version, but whenever you use a special skill that causes the screen to darken (like Gaffgarion's dark sword or Agrias' Judgement Sword) the game stutters for about 1-2 seconds. It's nothing game breaking and I don't notice it as much, but it is annoying and strange when the rest of the game is flawless.
-The sound effects were emulated... poorly. Rather than remix the sound effects like they did the music, Square simply ported them over. While they aren't terrible, some sound effects like the dying "scream" and item "confirmation" sound louder and more distorted than they should be.
My Opinion
If you missed Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1, then get this. If you loved Final Fantasy 12, then get this. If you want one of Square's most professional, dark, and realistic stories then by all means get this. FFT had one of my favorite video game tales ever and now that it's been remade, I had more fun playing through it a second time then I did the first. The odd slowdown and distorted sound effects are minor annoyances in an otherwise fantastic package.
And I hear Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced 2 more than makes up for FFTA's embarassment.
